Erosion Control May 2009 : Page 6

editor's comments By Janice Kaspersen homeowners’, and government’s. Should pub- lic funds be used to help people who made decisions that didn’t work out, even if the con- sequences of those decisions weren’t obvious at the time, or if forces beyond their control put them in an untenable situation later on? While much of this discussion focus- es on the country’s financial situation, a similar debate is taking place on the nature of govern- ment’s versus private citizens’ responsibili- ties—one that erosion control professionals should be aware of. The question is this: What responsibility does a local govern- ment have to help W private property owners whose homes or busi- nesses are threatened by erosion, such as from an eroding shoreline or river? And, if the gov- ernment has once stepped in to try to solve the problem, does that imply an ongoing commit- ment to do so? Two recent cases illustrate the issue. In Wash- ington state, the Quinault River has shifted its course over the years, bringing it much closer to homes that, when they were built, were nowhere near riverfront property. Some homeowners are asking that the county—which has spent about $30,000 on previous erosion control measures that have failed to solve the problem—spend more to “fix the river.” Commissioners from Grays Har- bor County are considering the options. In Alaska, a similarly shifting river is threat- ening homes, but there, the government took a different stance. Rather than trying to stop the erosion or divert the Matanuska River, the local 6 l EROSION CONTROL A Different Kind of Home Bailout—Who Should Pay? e’ve all heard a lot of debate recently about the nature of responsi- bility: banks’, regula- tors’, mortgage-holding government decided to buy out homeowners whose property was in harm’s way and then de- molish the homes. Some homeowners chose not to accept the buyout initially, and now the Natu- ral Resources Conservation Service funds that supported the buyout program are gone—but the erosion problem isn’t. In this case, the ques- tion of responsibility is complicated by previous work that was performed about 20 years ago by the state’s Department of Transportation, which constructed dikes to prevent flooding. Some say the dikes didn’t do what they were intended to, and perhaps even diverted water toward some homes, rather than away from them, before fi- nally failing altogether. The question is whether that initial attempt to control the river gave a false sense of security to those who owned af- fected property that the erosion control measures would continue. The same question arises often with beach What responsibility does local government have to help private property owners threatened by erosion? nourishment projects, in which local govern- ments or federal agencies pay to add sand to an eroding beach to maintain it and protect the property behind it. Does that action imply an ongoing commitment to keep on nourishing the beach? If a property owner invests in a structure behind that beach, and the city or state later decides the beach nourishment is too costly or simply isn’t as effective as planned, does the government then have any responsibility to the property owner for damage that might not have occurred had the beach nourishment program continued? If the area was zoned for develop- ment in the first place, does the government have an obligation to help protect the homes that have been built there? Have you had experience with scenarios like these in your community? How were they handled? Share your take on the issue online at www.erosioncontrol.com. EC www.erosioncontrol.com EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Bob Adair Managing Partner Construction EcoServices LLC Houston, TX Joseph A. Crea, CPESC, CPSWQ Centennial, CO Jerald S. Fifield, Ph.D., CPESC President HydroDynamics Incorporated Parker, CO Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI Donald Gray, Ph.D. Michael Harding, CPESC Great Circle International LLC Project Engineer, Environmental and Land Services Georgia Transmission Corp. Tucker, GA San Diego, CA Rick Lipcsei Hydraulic, Sedimentation and Erosion Control Laboratory Manager Jett McFalls Texas Transportation Institute College Station, TX Michael B. McIntyre, CPESC Construction Inspector Environmental & Safety Compliance Officer Centex Homes DFW Metro Dallas, TX City of Virginia Beach, VA Curt M. Millward Paul Northcutt Georgetown, TX Edward B. Perry, Ph.D. Research Civil Engineer Vicksburg, MS John Ravert Manager Berks County Conservation District Leesport, PA J. Eric Scherer, CPESC State Resource Conservationist US Department of Agriculture Warwick, RI Robbin Sotir President Robbin B. Sotir & Associates Marietta, GA Gilberto E. Urroz, Ph.D., P.E. Assoc. Professor, Civil/Environmental Engineering Utah State University Utah Water Research Laboratory Logan, UT William Young Wildlife Ecologist Applied Ecological Services Inc. Jackson, NJ